A Tale of Revolutionary Love

This is a translated/updated version of this Portuguese short story.

It could be odd, thinking that a love story has only one person — but it's something that we find here. One human being that lives love and tries to get revolutionized every day.

The name of this woman is still unknown. Maybe because she doesn't even know how this long journey started by this fingering of words. However, this tale is hers for herself and no one needs to be a part of it. Well, maybe a can of coke could join. It was there when all of this started.

It was a rainy day, the wind was tormenting her downcast face. She was wearing black and white clothes: a blouse, and pants stolen from her closet this morning.

She was looking for a store where she could buy a snack. Her stomach wanted to crush her, she was fasting for hours! It was roaring loud and clear: give me food!

Step by step, she was reaching an uncertain destiny. But what is certain in this world, right? Her high heels echoed amidst the sound of the rain pinging over her umbrella. It was a dance of movement, each moment unique and full of hunger. The melody intensified as she was closer to the store's door — she was running, reaching the door.

“Thank you.” She said to the person that hold the door, smiling without realizing that she was alone at the entrance. “Your welcome!” She whispered, answering herself.

The aroma in the air was as magic as the ambiance: three window-glass walls were echoing the raindrops, adding to the coziness of the place that was mixed with pastel oak furniture and floating air plants. Her eyes searched the sparkling beverage area. She only wanted two things: something to feed her body.

She picked one coca-cola and went near the wholemeal bars' box. After paying, she went outside and opened her friend — since the umbrella prevented her from getting totally soaked.

“Watch out!” Some cyclist shouted.

She was deep into her thoughts, the bike crossed her path and she fell to the ground. The umbrella went from her hand to the street, a car had hit it. The drops from the sky were soaking her, she almost became the rain.

“What about the food?” She thought, after hearing her stomach roar.

His bag had fallen to the floor, the can of coke had rollover near her foot. The bar was nowhere to be found. Despite this, she wasn't worried. Something had caught her attention. The can. A paper in the can.

“Love yourself” The rain was washing the message from the post-it that she haven't read before falling.

She picked the bag, the can, and she ran back to the store. The beverage place was full of little messages, each can had a different message.

“Be proud”

“Believe in you”

“The sun rises each morning, so will you!”

“Stay true to yourself”

“Face your fears, you're stronger than you think!” She read a bunch of them.

“Smile”

“Have you hugged yourself today?”

“Did you know that you're more beautiful when you smile?”

“Allow yourself to get lost within the mission of finding yourself” There were infinite messages of encouragement. All different, all uplifting…

Each message made her feel good enough to laugh through the rain that was getting into her skin.

— Are you ok? — Asked a worker from the store.

— Do you know who left those messages? — She asked, pointing at one of the cans.

— When it all started, we tried to know who was the person. — He stopped for a moment, smiling. — The person does not want to be known. We tried to contact by leaving a post-it asking to meet, but the person kindly refused, stating that the goal was to bring a smile each day to the ones that needed those messages.

— That's why the store doesn't take them down? — She wanted to know who the person was.

— We do believe that those messages can bring good moods in the store. And we love to read new messages.

— So, you don't see the author on the cameras?

— We prefer to keep their privacy, the same way we do with all costumers. — He seemed to be proud of working there. — I think that the person uses rush hours to leave one or two messages there. And most people don't even notice that their beverages have a post-it in them. They pay and go, not noticing any difference.

She had to go, so she left the store with a new vision. She worked like usual, with numbers and analysis that would take her to a whole new world inside her head.

Time went by, the working hours had come to an end, and she arrived home.

“I am one of the persons that don't notice a post-it on a can.” She was looking at herself in a mirror that she had hung in the entrance. “I drink, I eat, I walk. I just exist.” She opened her hand, after reaching the soaked, smudged post-it note.

She smiled, looking in the mirror again: she was as soaked and smudged as that little paper.

It was time to change her clothes, clean herself with care. She decided to enjoy the time — instead of waiting for a new tomorrow.

Her fingers were feeling any object that she crossed, her watchful eye was noticing little details. Just like a child that went on a discovery trip, she was uncovering a new way of being herself.

How had she never noticed that the world around her is far more within than was ever possible? Each detail has a meaning, each color reflects at least one feeling.

She hugged herself, smiled, laughed, and rolled over on the bed. She looked up at the white ceiling, as white as the past she had lived through… How could she never stop for a second to love herself? She had lived her whole life, and never thought of herself as someone else. She only thought about what she was supposed to think about — goals to get somewhere. But who was she? What were her dreams for her? What traits of herself did she love and make smile every day?

She got up in a leap from the bed, got dressed, and stood by the balcony watching the rain fall incessantly. What had once seemed like an ordeal for life, now seemed like something fun to watch, to feel, to hear, to touch? How and when a drop of rain on the window looked more beautiful than that floor she had always watched for most of her life?

A new universe opened up for her today. Like the rain that kept falling, her mind kept experiencing new sensations — so strong and intense… How to not love the ticking of the clock when a whole utopia seems to come to life over our hearts?

This woman, named Eva, started to love herself. She began to seek within. A new journey that will last until her mind ceases to exist!